


At First Sight

by Clockwork



Category: Heroes - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Genderswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-26
Updated: 2011-02-26
Packaged: 2017-10-15 23:15:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/165866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clockwork/pseuds/Clockwork
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Attending one of his sessions with Chandra, Gabriel meets the man's other daughter, Shanti's sister. Originally written for an rp with my darling Jemisard.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At First Sight

Gabriel wished with every fiber of his being that he could do what Chandra wanted. That he could move the pencil, making it jump up and dance. He'd settle for the damn thing shattering into a million pieces, or catching the whole table on fire. Anything to show Chandra he was evolved, that he had more than merely the markers to show he was truly the sort of human Chandra wrote about, sought, needed.

The pounding of his heart was suddenly loud, so loud, and it wasn't until Chandra sighed that he realized it wasn't his heart but someone at the door. Someone loud and insistent.

Nodding as Chandra excused himself, Gabriel leaned back, listening to the sounds at the door.

“You?! What are you doing here?”

“I fly nearly fifteen thousand kilometers to see you and that’s the greeting I get? No hello? No warm embrace?”

“You shouldn’t be here. You need to leave.”

It didn't sound like Eden, the one that usually interrupted their sessions. A small part of Gabriel had wondered if it would be his mother, the loud banging so very much her style and, only that morning, they had fought about all the time Gabriel spent with "that strange man".

Plucking the electrodes from his skin, Gabriel moved towards the door, stopping a few feet behind Chandra.

“I just got here, what do you mean I need to leave? I came to see you. To see if you’d changed your mind about letting me help you.”

“I don’t need your help. You can't be here, I’m busy.”

“I can go.”

Both turned, Gabriel's cheeks bright red at his own embarrassment. He should have stayed silent. He should have stayed at the table and pretended he wasn't there. Instead he had interrupted an argument that was none of his business. Chandra's face was as flushed as Gabriel's own, for very different reasons. But not the woman she fought with.

Her eyes were bright, fevered and wild. A wildness that matched her hair, silken locks of midnight black that were tossed and tangled, straight and sleek and tumbling about her shoulders. Mocha skin, darker than the Indian man, yet her features belied the same heritage. Almond eyes, rich chocolate eyes, all bittersweet and beckoning.

She was beautiful, stunningly so. All exotic features and willowy form. She was perfection. She was a dream he'd had every day of his life and never remembered until now. She was...

“No. No, it’s all right, Gabriel.” Chandra sighed. “Gabriel, my daughter, Indrani.”

Daughter. Chandra's daughter. Not Shanti, whom he heard of in such loving and longing tones. The other one. Chandra's exact words the first time he'd actually admitted to Gabriel about his children. The other one. The other one stepping closer, offering her hand as she gave him the most amazingly bright smile he'd ever seen.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gabriel,' she murmured, tones musical compared to the argument with her Father.

He wasn't sure he could breathe, feeling the tiny, delicate bones of her hand in his own. Her fingers weren't smooth, calloused from work. Calloused like his own. It was a sign of humanity in a being that struck him with the strength of a god. It made her more perfection rather than less. It made her real. Flesh and bone and work and beauty.

Covering a sigh of longing with a cough, Gabriel smiled, ducking his head as he tried to remember his manners rather than the desire to bow to her every whim. "Th-thank you, though, I assure you th-the pleasure is mine." He was still holding her hand, she wasn't pulling away. He looked up at her, afraid to stare at he fully as if she might remember that it was her hand and not his.

“Indrani, you can’t stay here. I’m working.”

“You’re always working. I won’t be in the way, you know I can help you, Father. I read your book, properly, and I think I can see where you’ve derived the idea of the original genetic-”

“Indrani!”

Gabriel jerked, releasing her hand with a wince. The flush of his cheeks paled until he looked ashen. Despite the target of his ire being the girl before him, his reaction was like that of an abused child, a kicked puppy. A raised voice and he was eager to escape, to bow down and earn affection once more. With Indrani there he was proud of himself to make his escape.

"I... I should g-go,' he murmured, darting back to the table and grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair. He didn't wait, head down and staring at the floor as he brushed past the pair. "I... I'll be back, Chandra. Just... when you call, I'll come back."

He hurried down the hall, out of the building. The sound of Chandra screaming followed him until he was on the street. Leaning against the building, Gabriel chided himself for leaving, for abandoning her. He should go back, rescue her, tell Chandra that he couldn't treat her like that.

Instead he shoved his hands in his pockets and, head down, made his way home.


End file.
